With a line up and musical selection to die for the GSSS is building a reputation in the dance music World as the festival of festivals.

Acts this year included the Chemical brothers, Groove Armada, Paul Van Dyk, Danny Tanaglia, Carl Cox, Tidy Boys, Roni Size and Stanton Warriors. I could go on and on, but in the case of sounding like a press release I'll stop. After driving a few hours into the heart of the English countryside I finally arrived at the GSSS site. Judging by a few conversations I wasn't the only one to find the location a bit tricky to find. I didn't mind too much as it reminded me of the original rave days of parties in secluded fields.

With a slightly overcast sky and my fingers crossed it wouldn't rain I made my way round the site. I must admit, the layout wasn't too clever, and in the dark it was common to leave one arena only to end up at the same one 10 minutes later, but then again strange things do happen in the night.

The first impression of the GSSS was that you'd just walked into a mass fairground. Bungee jumps, hearts and diamonds and dogems made up some of the numerous rides on offer. The flashing lights and sounds plus the tents, stalls and neo-clad ravers gave off a mind-boggling carnival feel.

After a quick listen to some funky house courtesy of the Bud bus I made my way to the Drum 'n' Bass arena. As per usual the d'n'b tent was one of the first to fill up. Inside a horn blowing, whistle tooting, hands in the air crowd were gyrating to the legendary sounds of Fabio. His hard hitting d'n'b style was certainly being lapped up by everyone witnessing his set.

With the bass still rattling my bones I was off to book my spot in the Chemical Generation arena for the headline performance from the Chemical Brothers. As expected the tent was crammed with bodies all waiting to experience the live sounds of the duo. The boys started off nice and slow before quickly dipping into some acid style breaks. As the crowd began to get into it the swing of things the lights and sound went out. With everybody waiting in anticipation the silence was broken with the popular sound of Block Rockin Beats, cue the screaming crowd, cue the beat, cue the explosive light display and welcome to one of the World's finest dance music acts.

Deciding to avoid the inevitable crush at the end of the brothers set I decided to have a look at the Bedrock arena. Known as Brightons favourite export after Norman Cook Bedrock has established itself as a force to be reckoned with in the UK clubbbing community. Although the Chemical bros were playing Sasha and Digweed had the usual healthy following. Playing their recognised style of progressive/ trancey house you could feel yourself being picked up and carried along to the sounds.

On exiting Bedrock I went over to the Dance Ritual tent to see Louis Vega. On entering I was met with the funkier side of the festival. The music consisted of funky / soulful house with a heavy dose of Brazilian percussion beats. The funk was funking, the bass was booming, the vocals were soothing and I was smiling.

After chilling on the neo floor of the Strongbow bar I took a stroll to check out some more of the GSSS sights. One thing I noticed was that the Gatecrasher kids are alive and kicking. To walk past someone covered in plastic and neon material while sucking a dummy was a very common image. You can't help but feel that the old skool hardcore scene has passed on its genes to the new pumping house enthusiasts.

Also on mass display was clothing sporting the 'Tidy Trax' logo and name. With World domination on the Tidy agenda it's look as though the first steps have been taken in achieving this. The most popular and funniest vision for me was that of the trend for 'furry feet'. With legs covered in bulky fur from the knee down I found myself wondering if I'd gatecrashed a 'Hobbit' underground rave, for some reason this kept a smile on my face all night.

After looking for but not finding the wizard Gandalf I ventured over to the 'Tidy Trax' arena. While waiting for the 'Tidy Boys' to start their set the whole tent began buzzing with the feeling that they were in for something special.

To a more than surprised crowd the Tidy Boys started off with the anthem from the popular 80's children programme 'Jimm'll fix it'. At first people weren't sure what was going on but as the Tidy Boys started swaying with hands in the air so did the crowd. As the song came to a close and the clapping and cheering started the explosive thumping hard house beats came soaring threw. It was a simple but brilliant idea, it created smiles and gave off the message that this was a party and we're gonna have some fun. As the fantastic set came to an end the already packed arena started to increase in numbers due to the fact everyone wanted to see one of the leading ladies in dance music Lisa Lashes.

Witnessing her memorable performances in the past I decided to avoid the crush and go check out a DJ I've longed to see. Danny Tanaglia was featuring in the 'Be Yourself' arena and he was the man I wanted to see. Serving up a mix of slightly progressive house with funky, electro baselines his 7 hour set was one of the night's specials. Although when I saw him later it was a more older crowd jiving to some quality funky house.

Some of the other DJ's and sounds I experienced included the funky d'n'b/ break style of Mike 'Ruffcut' Lloyd, the funky, tribal, progressive house of Francois K and Louis Vega and the fresh style of drum'n'bass with an uplifting feel courtesy of Dillinja and Lemon.

Now usually I would have mentioned my highlight of the night, which on most occasions is a DJ or act. This time the highlight for me was an arena.

The main reason I choose this tent is for it's non-stop incredible atmosphere. From start to finish (and I mean the very finish 6am) the whole place had an awesome party vibe. Being easily the busiest arena over all, DJ's such as Eddie Halliwell, Anne Savage, Tidy Boys, Lee Haslam, Paul Glazby, etc, made the 'Tidy Trax' stage the gem of the Gatecrasher Summer Sound System. They worked hard at entertaining the masses and along with their loyal fanatical fans you felt the success they surely enjoyed.

With the weather being kind and holding off the rain, plus the bright sun in the morning the chill during the early hours was quickly forgotten. As usual I didn't witness any trouble and apart from the messed up lost souled individuals wandering around everyone seemed to be in good spirits.

The only real downside I could think of was the £5 charge for parking. It wasn't advertised and I did find it a little out of order.

Although similar to Homelands the GSSS definitely had more of a carnival touch, and if this is anything to go by the next festival installment from the Gatecrasher posse will be another adventure not to miss.